F1 2025 winners and losers: Look away Lewis Hamilton fans

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the end of a gruelling 24-round season that also waved goodbye to the current generation of F1 cars.

Now the dust has settled on a pulsating campaign that concluded with a three-way title showdown which went down to the wire, we’ve assessed which drivers and teams can be happy with their efforts, and who will be thankful to get away for the winter break.

Here are our biggest winners and losers from the 2025 F1 season…

Winner - Norris and McLaren

It probably won’t come as a surprise to see Lando Norris and McLaren sitting top of our 2025 winners and losers selection.

Norris clinched his maiden world championship but he wasn’t the best driver of the season. After a perfect start, Norris’s title bid faltered during a scrappy period where he made too many mistakes in a car that was the dominant force at that point of the year.

Nevertheless, Norris demonstrated his mental strength and resilience in his recovery from several setbacks, including a devastating retirement at Zandvoort, to put together an impressive run of form when it mattered most.

The 26-year-old capitalised on a perplexing rut suffered by McLaren teammate and long-time championship leader Oscar Piastri, whose late-season drop-off blew his chances of a first world title, and saw Norris emerge as the favourite.

McLaren successfully defended their constructors’ championship, and also landed their first drivers’ world title since 2008, all while maintaining harmony within the team despite facing plenty of critics.

Loser - Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton

This was unquestionably Lewis Hamilton’s worst season in F1, and not just statistically speaking.

Hamilton’s dream move to Ferrari quickly turned into a nightmare as he ended a hugely disappointing debut campaign without a grand prix podium for the first time in a season, and suffered three consecutive Q1 exits.

The seven-time world champion finished nearly 100 points adrift of teammate Charles Leclerc, who still turned in an impressive year despite Ferrari’s competitive woes in their first winless campaign since 2021.

Even taking into account the fact Hamilton had to adapt to a new team, culture and car, 2025 fell way below the lofty standards the 40-year-old Briton holds himself to. Even considering how bad Ferrari’s SF-25 was, Hamilton suffered the lowest low of his F1 career to date with repeated poor performances.

The only real positive came at the second round of the season in China, where Hamilton produced a vintage performance to take pole position and win the sprint race. But that feels like a very long time ago.

Winner - Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen delivered what was surely the best season by a driver not to win a world championship, having come just two points shy of pulling off  an unthinkable comeback that would have gone down in F1 history.

The four-time world champion wrote off his title chances several times throughout 2025, particularly as Red Bull suffered a wretched mid-season, leaving him 104 points adrift of the championship summit with just nine rounds to go.

But Verstappen never gave up. He was remarkably consistent and a combination of a sensational turnaround from Red Bull, driver mistakes and team errors from McLaren, brought the Dutchman back into unlikely title contention.

Incredibly, Verstappen stayed in the hunt all the way until the chequered flag in the Abu Dhabi finale, and can come away with few regrets from a season in which he squeezed every ounce of performance from and ended with the most pole positions and wins (eight for both) of any driver.

Imagine what he would have done had he been driving the McLaren…

Loser - Red Bull’s second drivers

It was a woeful year to be in Red Bull’s second seat. Liam Lawson’s stint alongside Verstappen lasted two disastrous races before he was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who fared little better.

Tsunoda’s lows weren’t as horrendous as Lawson’s but he still struggled to make any kind of impact alongside Verstappen, who once again did the heavy lifting at Red Bull.

There were moments of promise, but it was never consistent and Tsunoda ultimately blew his chance and has subsequently became the latest victim of the Red Bull second seat ‘curse’.

Tsunoda managed a measly 30 point compared to Verstappen’s haul of 421, marking the biggest points gap to a teammate in F1 history.

While Lawson at least bounced back with a respectful performance across the remainder of 2025 upon his humiliating demotion to sister team Racing Bulls, Tsunoda’s reputation has taken what could be an unsalvageable hit.

Winner - F1’s rookie crop

Isack Hadjar ended 2025 as the top rookie and subsequently earned a Red Bull drive. The Frenchman’s seasons started terribly with his formation-lap crash in Australia, but the manner in which he bounced back was hugely impressive.

Hadjar was rapid over one lap, super consistent and enjoyed the highest high of any rookie in terms out outright results, claiming a stunning maiden podium with a third-place finish at Zandvoort.

It was a rollercoaster season of highs and lows for Kimi Antonelli, but the 19-year-old rookie impressively recovered from a dreadful mid-season slump and showed flashes of the potential Mercedes saw in him in the first place.

Much like Antonelli, Ollie Bearman’s season was mixed and at times messy. But his raw outright speed was never in question. The Briton produced some searing qualifying laps and finally combined that with a string of consistent points-scoring displays towards the end of the year, capped off with an outstanding fourth in Mexico City.

On paper, Gabriel Bortoleto had the least impressive season out of the rookies, but that is not a totally fair reflection given he was in the worst car out of the lot. Entering F1 as at the reigning F2 champion, Bortoleto underlined his potential with several stand out drives, including his run to P6 in Hungary.

The Brazilian held his own against highly-rated teammate Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying. A pair of brutal crashes during a nightmare weekend on home soil in Brazil, and other notable errors, do not take away from what was ultimately a strong introduction to F1.

Loser - Alpine

Alpine endured a dreadful 2025 season they will want to forget in a hurry.

The season started poorly for Alpine and their struggles only got worse, with the A525 proving to be the slowest in the entire field.

Alpine only scored points on five occasions and finished the year rock bottom of the constructors’ championship and a whopping 48 points behind ninth-placed Sauber.

Pierre Gasly’s strong performances were the only highlight. The Frenchman bagged all of Alpine’s points, including an excellent drive to sixth at Silverstone, and also dragged his car to Q3 on 10 occassions.

Having taken the decision to abandon 2025 early to prioritise F1’s rules reset, and with Mercedes engines coming onboard, they have to improve next year. It can’t get any worse, can it?

Winner - Williams

McLaren aside, Williams were the standout success story of 2025 as they ended the season as best of the rest behind the top four teams.

Williams secured their best championship finish since 2017 with an unexpected rise to fifth place. The smart acquisition of Carlos Sainz proved to be a masterstroke, boosting the British squad to their first triple-digit points haul since 2016.

Sainz and Alex Albon form one of the most formidable driver pairings on the entire grid and Williams will head into F1’s new dawn not only on the rise, but rightfully full of confidence about the future.

Loser - Aston Martin

Disappointing would be the best way to describe Aston Martin’s 2025 season.

Aston Martin’s recent struggles continued and the team largely had Fernando Alonso to thank for finishing as high as seventh in the constructors’ championship. The two-time world champion scored 56 points to teammate Lance Stroll’s 33 and claimed Aston Martin’s best result of fifth place in Hungary.

With expectations at an all-time high thanks to a new engine partnership with Honda, and Adrian Newey designing the car, Aston Martin will have no hiding place in 2026. 

Winner - Racing Bulls

For Racing Bulls, the 2025 season was a big success, despite changes to their driver line up and team management during the year.

Racing Bulls produced their highest points haul since 2021 with 92 points as they clinched sixth place in the constructors’ championship.

Hadjar was the star of the season for Racing Bulls to give the team their biggest highlight of the year with his podium at Zandvoort. 

The only downside is losing Hadjar to Red Bull as a result of his impressive rookie campaign. Racing Bulls will hope Red Bull’s next protege Arvid Lindblad can be as successful.

Loser - Jack Doohan

It’s easy to forget Jack Doohan raced in F1 this season, such was the impact he made at Alpine.

The 22-year-old Australian was replaced after six underwhelming races as Alpine drafted in Franco Colapinto.

Doohan scored no points and was outperformed by teammate Gasly. His brief Alpine stint will most likely remembered for two big crashes.

He lost control in the wet on the first lap of his debut at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, before suffering a heavy crash in practice at the Japanese Grand Prix two races later.

Doohan’s crash at Suzuka was the result of him failing to close the DRS overtaking aid before turning into the high-speed Turn 1.